Summoning Dragons
by Misura
Summary: [AncientEgyptAU] Mokuba plays the Flute of Summoning Dragons, because he wants to give Seto a very special birthday-present. [SetoJoey]


Summoning dragons

x

Warnings/notes : pseudo Ancient Egyptian AU, Seto/Joey, Mokuba, slightly weird, oocness (under influence of magic).

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 4th july 2004, by Misura, for the 'With friends like these'-challenge at the tempsmort lj-community, to which Seiyaryu23 formulated this challenge :

"I would like it if you wrote a brother Fluff fic with Seto and Mokuba(YGO) Starting point:...um;; I got it! It could be Ancient Egyptian Mokuba and Seto(Non-Yaoi, just fluff)Mokuba was playing with magic and Seto finds out ..." (And in case any of you were wondering, yes, Seto/Joey was okay to put in here too. Lucky for me.)

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_The oddly shaped flute was nothing more than that: a musical instrument that produced no particular appealing sound._

_But it was bought with the money a small boy had gathered during three years. Bought by a small boy who had been told this flute would summon dragons. Bought by a small boy who wanted to give his big brother a very special present for his seventeenth birthday._

_It was bought by someone who not only -wanted- a miracle, but also -believed- in that miracle._

_To the higher powers, that counted for something._

_A nice way to lessen Their boredom, if nothing else._

x

Seto had no idea what had woken him up. It was in the middle of the night, a full moon shedding her light on the earth below. There were no sounds that could account for his awakening.

No sounds ... not even that of Mokuba breathing. Frowning, Seto softly called his little brother's name, trying to see if the bundle of blankets in the corner contained something more.

Rationally, he knew Mokuba -had- to be in there. Where else would he be, at an hour like this?

There was no reason at all for him to feel as if someone was calling him to go outside.

x

_A dragon with scales the color of the heavens on a cloudless winter-day stirred in its sleep._

x

Jou cursed as he stumbled over a rock. His head still wasn't too clear, after being awakened by his father's loud singing. The man obviously hadn't kept his promise to drink less.

Of course, there had been cause for celebration with Shizuka having had her sight restored by a traveling healer, after everyone except Jou had already accepted she'd go blind. Still, that didn't mean Jou wanted to stay and listen.

Normally, he'd go over to his mother's house and spend the rest of the night there. He had intended to do that tonight too, except that he didn't seem to be able to find the right way in the dark.

It was odd, really. There was supposed to be a full moon. Plus, he'd walked to his mother's house by night dozens of times. He never got lost. Never.

x

_A dragon with scales the color of the heavens on a dark summer-night opened its red eyes. Then, cautiously, it stretched its wings, as if testing their strength._

x

Seto frowned. He thought he'd heard something, some kind of flute-music. Ridiculous. Who'd play a flute at this time?

More likely, it had been some sort of bird. Though animals were supposed to be asleep as well.

Curiously, he tried to determine from which direction the sound had come.

x

_Launching itself into the air, the Blue Eyes White Dragon majestically set flight, obeying the faint call of magic that summoned it._

_There was no sense of danger or distress, so it didn't hurry too much, though curiosity was a pull in itself. Before, it had always been called in the heat of battle, when its strength was needed._

x

Jou halted for a moment, listening intently.

There were footsteps coming in his direction.

x

_The small boy stared at the Red Eyes Black Dragon, the song of his flute faltering. The dragon stared back at him uncertainly, wondering why it had been called here._

x

Apparently, whatever clouds had been obscuring the moon had passed, since Seto was quite able to identify the person he might have bumped into, had it remained dark.

Of course it -had- to be the one person he'd wanted to see least of all. Though it was often enjoyable to exchange insults with Jou, right now, Seto had more important things to do.

Maybe if he turned around, he would be able to slip away quietly and unnoticed, without Jou thinking he was evading him.

"Seto? What are you doing out here?"

Seto sighed, straightening his back to appear as if he knew exactly where he was headed and why.

"I could ask you the same," he replied coolly.

"Yeah, but I was first." Jou grinned. As if he had -won- their little verbal skirmish by that childish reply.

x

_The two dragons stared at each other. There was a certain tension in the air, but Mokuba wasn't sure what was causing it. _

_Well, the two dragons, obviously, yet beyond that ... _

_He hoped they weren't going to fight. It would look glorious, at least for the first few seconds, only the thought of either of the dragons getting hurt wasn't to his liking at all._

_Especially since -he- had summoned them here. So if anything bad happened to them, it would be -his- responsibility._

_Lifting the flute to his lips once more, he blew a hesitant note, searching for another song, another spell to weave._

x

"I - " Seto began, trying to think of something to say that would put Jou back in his place -and- wouldn't betray the fact that he couldn't really explain his reasons for having wandered away from his safe and warm home in the middle of the night.

"You're lost too, aren't you?" Jou interrupted him. The blonde sounded surprisingly sympathetic, Seto had to admit. A pity he had had to be so rude. Otherwise, Seto might have almost believed Jou was being sincere. Almost.

"I am -not- lost!" he bit back, slightly taken aback by the vehemence of his denial. Seto was used to having better control over his emotions and how much of them he showed.

"All right, then where's the village? What direction?" Jou inquired. Like Seto should have known he would, after Seto's boast.

Seto's shoulders slumped. In part, he was annoyed with Jou, even if the question had been a reasonable one. In part, also, he was annoyed with himself, for getting into an argument with Jou while they should be figuring out some way to get back to their homes.

Well, Seto should, anyway. Jou probably lacked the intelligence.

x

_The Red Eyes Black Dragon nipped playfully at the neck of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, who eyed Mokuba with slight despair. The boy might have been moved to release the dragons from his spell, had he not been too caught up in his own music._

_A scornful glare at the Red Eyes didn't seem to have much effect either. The Blue Eyes reluctantly reached the conclusion that it might be best to just let events play out as they would._

_Though it would have to make sure to keep control of the situation, more or less. To lose control simply would not do._

x

"Are you cold?" Jou asked, seeing Seto shiver.

Seto, as stubborn as ever, started to shake his head, then seemed to reconsider. "A little," he admitted.

Jou felt he ought to be magnanimous after Seto had placed such trust in him as to actually confess to being human.

"Want to share my blanket?" he offered. "I mean, listen, Seto, I don't think we're going to get anywhere by walking around. Odds are, we'd only get even further away from the village than we already are."

"You propose to await the dawn here?" Seto didn't look too enthusiastic.

"Hey, we're bound to find our way back by day," Jou defended his idea. Naturally, he wasn't too fond of the prospect of spending a good few hours pretty close to Seto, but ah well. He could hardly let the other boy -die- out here, could he?

"I suppose you do have a point," Seto sighed.

"Be careful or you'll actually be paying me a compliment," Jou groaned. "Or thank me for my generosity."

Seto snorted, before he frowned as something occured to him. "Why are you carrying a blanket? Surely your father doesn't make you sleep outside? And I can't imagine anyone voluntarily staying out here in the cold."

"My dad's a nice, -good- person!" Jou burst out, tempted to withdraw his offer for a moment. "He'd just drunk a little too much, and his singing was keeping me awake, so I decided to sleep over at my mother's place. Not that it's any of -your- business."

"Fine," Seto snapped. "Excuse me for being a bit concerned about you. I'll be sure not to do it again."

Jou rolled his eyes, his anger already forgotten. "You're just way too touchy, you know that? But thanks, I guess. Though the gods know you don't deserve it."

Seto blinked. "Thanks for what?"

"For being concerned," Jou shrugged. "Hmm, this place feels comfortable enough to try to sleep on. What do you think?"

"Everything looks the same to me."

"Well, don't mistake me for the blanket or something."

x

_Mokuba looked at the two entwined dragons and smiled. They made quite a pretty sight together. He only hoped they would stay here long enough for him to get Seto and show them to him._

_Seto had always been fond of everything to do with dragons, especially the Blue Eyes. Of course, it was common knowledge that only the Priests and the Pharaoh were able to actually summon powerful monsters, so Seto had never had much hope to actually see one._

_Suppressing a yawn and feeling extremely tired all of a sudden, Mokuba rose unsteadily._

x

Mokuba rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and blinked at the bright light of the sun. He found himself lying on a warm spot of sand, which seemed unnatural, considering the sun had only just risen.

On his left, an oddly shaped flute lay half-buried in the sand.

And on his right ...

"Big brother? Is that Jou you're using as some kind of living blanket?"

OWARI


End file.
